Truck



(No Model.)

0. D. THOMPSON.

TRUCK.

Patented June 21, 1892.

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lhvrrnn STATES ZPATENT Orrrcn.

OTIS D. THOMPSON, 0F ELKHART, INDIANA.

TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 477,472, dated June 21', 1892.

Application filed September 25, 1891. Serial No. 406,839. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTIS D. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trucks; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which 1t appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide a simple and effective truck for use in moving heavy articles which shall be capable of easy handling and quick adjustment to place and which will occupy butlittle room whether in use or not. It is my purpose to so form the truck that it will be equally well adapted formoving boXes or articles with solid bottoms, as articles made up of skeleton framework, such as crates, baskets, and the like.

The invention consists, essentially, of a truck'frame adapted to engage the articles to be moved and having a single laterally-arranged trnck-wheel j ournaled thereon, the ar rangement being such that the weight of the article will clamp the truck-frame with its wheel closely and securely in place.

The invention includes the special form of frame and the details of construction which aid in the successful attainment of the objects in view.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the truck detached. Fig. 2 shows it in place upon the side of the box, and Fig. 3 is an end view showing the truck in connection with the side rail of a crate.

The truck-framc is made up of radial arms and includes a vertical arm or standard A, which has a straight bearing-face to the point 1, where the arm has an outward bend connecting the upper straight portion with the lower. At the upper end of the arm a boss 2 is formed, and through this a bolt 3 extends, having at its outer end a nut which holds in proper place the handle 4:. The lower part of the frame is formed by the horizontally-extending arms a on each side of the central standard. At their ends these arms have fin- 'zontal arms with the central standard the truck-wheel C is journaled on a pin 0, project ing outward from a boss on the frame. The truck-wheel is thus 0.1 the side of the standard opposite the spurred rests or fingers and is intermediate of the two extreme points 1) of contact of the frame with the box. It-is intended that two of these trucks shall be used in moving the box or other article,they being placed on opposite sides of the same. In placing them in position it is only necessary to lift the article slightly, so that the fingers Will go beneath it, and then the frame is adjusted to make its inner face bear against the side of the article, and when the box is re lieved from the lifting force it rests upon the rearwardly-bent fingers and by reason of its weight causes the central standard and the arms to be jammed hard against the sides, thus clamping the truck-frame securely in place. The spurs sink into the bottom of the box and make the grip of the parts more certain. These spurs also serve another purpose in that they are located at the inner ends of the fingers, and thus theyare adapted to fit against the inner side of the side railof a crate, as in Fig. 3, which rests upon the finger between the spur and the standard of the frame. The horizontal arms are of sufficient length to give the desired distance between the two points of the contact on each side of the wheel as will prevent disengagement of the truck in passing over obstacles or if force is applied to the handle in impelling the article. The trucks are placed under the article at the proper points to sustain the main weight, leaving one end resting lightlyon the ground, and a person pushing at this end will be able to move the heaviest boxes and crates without difficulty.

\Vhile the detachable feature of the truck is most desirable and is essential in its use with boxes, crates, and the like, the truck may be usedwith movable receptacles and remain in place thereon for an indefinite period, answering the purpose of ordinary wheels. The wheel, it will be noticed, is arranged with its side parallel to the face of the frame, and thus it takes up but little room, and by rea- IOG son of this arrangement the trucks are adapted to be placed on the opposite sides of the box to run in parallel lines.

I claim as my invention 1. In combination,a truck-frame constructed to detachably engagea box or other article to be held by the weight thereof, saidframe carrying a sin gle truck-wheel journaled thereon intermediate of the points of contact, substantially as described.

2. In combination,atruck-frame consisting of the vertical standard and the arms extending laterally from said standard and forming integral continuations of the same, and the truck-wheel journaled on the frame, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a truck-frame consisting of the vertical standard, arms extending laterally from the standard and forming integral continuations of the same, said arms being continued at right angles at their ends into fingers with spurs thereon, and a single truck-wheel journaled on the frame intermescribed.

4. In combination, a truck-frame consisting tical side of a box or the like and the finger portions extending horizontally to fit under the same, and a truck-wheel journaled on the frame with its sides parallel to the front face of the frame and with the side of the box against which the frame bears, substantially as described.

7. In combination, the truck-frame com prising a vertical standard having at its upper end an outwardly-bent arm terminating in a handle and a truck-Wheel journaled on the frame. diate of the fingers, substantially as de- 1 In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OTIS D. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK M. FOSTER, GEO. W. MoRELL. 

